Newsletter

Alpharetta marathoner thankful for faster time in Boston

ALPHARETTA — An Alpharetta woman said she is grateful that she ran her second fastest marathon ever in the Boston Marathon.

Diane Seale said she would have been crossing the finish line when the explosions occurred if she had run her normal time.

Instead, she crossed the finish line about five minutes earlier. Seale's two children waited for her near the finish line, but they cut through an alley to get away from the crowd before the explosions occurred.

She told WXIA-TV (http://on.11alive.com/18IQfI3 ) that her son took one picture at the marathon. He didn't realize until several days later that it appears show suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a white cap. Seale said she can't help but think about how close her children were to the suspect.

"I pulled it up on my computer and literally my hair stood up on my arms," Seale said. "My heart dropped, there he was in the white hat."

In the bottom right part of the screen, it appears Tsarnaev in perfect profile. Her kids were standing next to him before they took a turn through an alley to avoid the crowds on the sidewalk. A few minutes later the bombs went off.

"To think they were so close," Seale said.

But that wasn't the last close call. Seale said at her normal marathon time, she would have been five minutes behind. Her kids and the crowd pushed her to run faster.

"That was my second fastest marathon time," Seale said. "Had I run my normal time, I would have been there, I would have been right there with the bomb."

It seems like too many close calls to count. But they all lead back to a thankful home, a relieved family, and a drive to return to Boston next year. Seale said she only hesitated for a little while about whether or not to go back.

"If I have to stop at the place where the people died for a few minutes to say a prayer, I will," Seale said. "I'll go back and run it again."